Short Report 2014 Part 10

For the last few years I have been flying Airtran from Chicago to Cancun because their prices are reasonable and it's a direct flight. The price has usually been between $180 and $210 USD each way. Airtran flies out of Midway which is an easy airport to clear customs and it only takes 5 Bloody Mary's before you land in Cancun. I usually take the bus to Playa then the ferry to Cozumel. It costs me around $20 US and takes 2 1/2 to 4 /12 hours to make the trip. This year I thought I would fly Maya Air to Cancun when leaving. The ticket cost me $500 pesos and the flight takes between 10 and 15 minutes. I walked over to the airport the day before and purchased my ticket. You check in at the Maya Air counter an hour ahead of time then go through security and wait at the gate.

The plane holds 20 people and the seats are really cramped. No beverage service.

It takes about 5 minutes to board then you are up in the air.

The views are really good.

It seems like only a few minutes before seeing the mainland and getting ready to land. Once on the ground you pick up your baggage and get on the shuttle that is waiting to take you over to the main terminals. I will be flying Maya Air again. It only cost me $18 US more than taking the bus and ferry and saved a lot of time and hauling baggage around.

chief...I arrived an hour early and the counter wasn't open. There was one other couple waiting ahead of me. I didn't have a watch but I must have waited a good 20 to 25 minutes before an agent came to open the counter up.

Cary...I had one 49# checked bag and one carry on. There were no luggage charges. I don't know what their weight limits are but there were only about 10 people on the plane. Maybe that makes a difference.

On another subject I forgot to mention that I had been carrying my tourist visa on me as I was worried about being stopped in the Explorer and wanted to have it with me. Being stupid, I never took it out of my pocket and ended up loosing it. I needed the visa to leave the country so the day before I left I went over to immigration at the airport and told them I needed a new one. It took about 5 minutes and I had to pay about $320 pesos for a new one. I only had to show them my passport and fill out a new form. No problem at all.

I bet the FMM thing went better than in CUN. We got our viajero confiable in Cancun. If there was ever ANYTHING that taught me to be careful not to lose the FMM it was that. Little room in the corner of departures by the bank. We spent a LONG time in there getting it all sorted out, most of it in the little back room. Out front that poor lady was just constantly being yelled at by tourists who lost their FMM. She held her own but it had to be tiring. They had a little AC on so someone would open the door and get told at to wait out side until she told them to enter. Then they got told at to close the door behind them. Then the jefe came through and apparently gave them grief about how many FMM forms were in the trash after being screwed up by the tourists. Rough job. Other than the massive time delay to figure out what they were doing, they treated us very well and were very nice even after all the cr*p they put up with.

Funnest was listening to the guy with the British accent going on about calling his barrister. Yea, you do that pal.

And I love the Mayair system. They SAY be there an hour early, but they really mean get there before the flight leaves. My kind of airline!

Crunch... I forget the time line where Freddy worked. Not sure if he worked at Playa Corona before or after Woody's. The last bar he worked at was just south of town on the old road before you came to the Money bar. He is a good person and will always find a job.

Now that I have flown Maya Air I will use them more often. I prefer taking the bus and ferry to Cozumel as I like the ferry ride. When the ferry tickets were on sale for $20 pesos each I would ride the ferry all day long with a cooler full of beer. It was something to do and fun. I am never in a hurry but don't like getting up early to catch the first ferry so I can make it to Cancun for my flight. Most times I would leave a day early and spend the night in downtown Cancun. Now I might just take Maya Air. For $500 pesos a ticket it's not a bad option and I like flying.